The 10 best Hong Kong Invasions

Invader is a pseudonym of the famous and anonymous French street artist whose work is inspired by the 8-bit video games of the late 1970s and early 1980s (he took his name from the arcade game Space Invaders). He has traveled to nearly 40 countries on five continents and each city he invaded he adorned with arcade game mosaics. In Hong Kong, Invader placed 75 of them with more oriental themes then usually: martial arts, gold and red colors which represent fire and earth.

The idea is to “invade” cities all over the world with characters inspired by first-generation arcade games. Invader makes the mosaic out of weather-resistant tiles, which allows him to cement them to the walls, while keeping the signature ultra-pixelated appearance. He sees his work as a way to let ordinary people enjoy in art, without visiting museums and galleries. Mosaics are usually located three or four meters above the ground, in places which are very visible, yet hard-to-reach, so that everyone can see them, but nobody can remove them easily. Approximately, more than 15% of his early pieces, mostly those that were small and easy to reach have been removed.

To keep track of his invasion the French street artist creates invasion maps. Some of the invasion maps can be purchased in case you want to find his art easily.

We will show you the top 10 Invader mosaics in Hong Kong, based on the points they received. The concept behind Invader’s invasions is that he gives himself points for each piece he places – between 10 and 50 points per mosaic, depending on size, composition and location.

Dollar Sign Worth 25 Points

Invader placed a few dollar signs around the bank buildings in Central. They are gold or gold and red to reflect the Chinese beliefs about fire and earth. Next to one of the signs, someone put a notice below it, saying that it is “illegal” to post something on that wall, but couldn’t or didn’t want to remove the mosaic.

Ghost, Worth 25 Points

This ghost was placed right next to the Hopewell Center in Wan Chai, but, unfortunately, it was installed upon private property and taken down by the owners of the building.

Popeye, Worth 25 Points

Space Invader, Worth 30 Points

Pillar Mosaic, Worth 30 Points

Princess, Worth 35 Points

Invader didn’t only decorate the streets of Hong Kong with his art work. The restaurant called Bibo on Hollywood Road is the place where you can find his Mario Princess, along with Mega Man and the works of other famous street artists, such as KAWS, JR, D*Face and many more. The princess is a quite large mosaic. Its red and gold hues reflects the five-element theory of Chinese philosophy.

Kung Fu Fighter, Worth 40 Points

A kung fu fighter kicking an Invader figure is another tribute to Bruce Lee and martial arts.

Hong Kong Phooey, Worth 40 Points

Invader paid a tribute to Bruce Lee with three different kung fu masters’ artworks, and one of them is Hong Kong Phooey, a kung fu-fighting dog from a 1970s American cartoon series of the same name. It first appeared in Happy Valley, but it was removed, like many other mosaics he placed in Hong Kong. One year later, the replica made of ceramic tiles on a glass panel was auctioned for HK$2 million.

Pac-Man, Worth 45 Points

The mosaic of Pac-Man chasing three Space Invaders located in Tin Hau along King’s Road was quite large and on a very visible place. Unfortunately, it has been removed by the Highways Department for endangering public safety.

Spaceship, Worth 50 Points

This spaceship is on top of the building and huge! We wonder how he installed it there.